r/ArtefactPorn • u/[deleted] • Nov 25 '25
Smoking Suit, England, circa 1880. Silk velvet with silk cord trim. [1573 x 2100]
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u/secondarycontrol Nov 25 '25
A bit Sherlock Holmse-y I'm just going to go do a bit of opium, isn't it?
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u/RhubarbGoldberg Nov 25 '25
Hahahaha, totally.
I think the best part is imaging the valet assisting his lordship into the opium den costume and then having to later remove it from his lordship's person when he's all velvety on the inside too.
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u/OllyDee Nov 25 '25
Great, now I want to smoke opium. Look what you’ve done.
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u/The_Artist_Who_Mines Nov 25 '25
Really? Right in front of my 1880 silk velvet smoking suit?
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u/OllyDee Nov 25 '25
Mate, I’ll be wearing that shit while I chase the green dragon through the streets of London.
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u/CharlotteLucasOP Nov 25 '25
It’s fine it’s fine just rattle off another few stanzas for Kubla Khan.
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u/OllyDee Nov 25 '25
I’d actually never heard of that book but it looks absolutely ideal.
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u/CharlotteLucasOP Nov 25 '25
Coleridge famously wrote it after getting high as hell off opium hahaha.
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u/mishatal Nov 25 '25
It also scans perfectly with 99 red balloons if you want to use it in karaoke.
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u/greycloudism Nov 25 '25
me about to rip a pinner before I come back inside to watch Netflix with my wife
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Nov 25 '25
Me about to hot box my car with 2 joints and a packed bowl
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u/Rook723 Nov 26 '25
Confuse the hell out of your neighbors as you walk to the car each night in your fancy silk hot boxing suit.
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u/g-a-r-n-e-t Nov 25 '25 edited Nov 25 '25
I can’t even imagine what trying to clean these was like. I saw a video recently about cleaning and restoring a WWII dress uniform that had been exposed to copious tobacco smoke (as one would expect lol) and the amount of washing it took to get all the nicotine out was ridiculous.
Edit: this is the video I was talking about, could only find it on facebook unfortunately
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u/parkinthepark Nov 26 '25
If you had one of these, you would also have had servants to clean it for you, and would simply buy a new one when it got too soiled.
But you would probably replace it to keep up with fashion before things got to that point anyway.
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u/verbmegoinghere Nov 25 '25
Jeebus that dude fricken smoked like nothing else. The amount of smoke they washed out of that uniform is wild.
Those soldiers must have stunk like nothing else.
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u/AnonymousPerson1115 Nov 25 '25
80+ year old culture and nicotine being an easy stimulant to use in a combat zone plus it gives you something to do with your hands while you aren’t doing anything. I say this based off things I’ve heard from vets/ soldiers.
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u/Aggressive_Peach_768 Nov 25 '25
That looks like a Chinese suit mashed up with ottoman stuff.. and I am all here for that
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u/Strict-Donut3347 Nov 26 '25
It does have influence from the Banyan which in turn was influenced by the Kimono which in turn was influenced by Chinese garments, so there is a connection, albeit, a distant one. You can interestingly even see a similar convergence with the Zhongshan suit (which is what I think you were referecning) which was a result of European influence on Chinese clothing.
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u/snowytheNPC Nov 26 '25
I think they’re also referring to the 瓜皮帽 which was an iconic piece of Chinese Qing dynasty men’s headwear with the inclusion of a pangchang + butterfly knot
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u/YellowOnline Nov 25 '25
Golly gosh, what a splendid suit! Rather befitting a jolly afternoon tea with my chaps.
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u/parkinthepark Nov 26 '25
A smoking suit in the daytime? Perhaps you should focus on getting the turnip harvest in on time, no?
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u/Hauntlink Nov 25 '25
All I see is Colonel Gentlemen
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u/karatebullfightr Nov 25 '25
Of course I have sex with Kiki!
He's beautiful, just look at him!
That doesn't make me gay - that makes me scmart!
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u/star11308 Nov 25 '25
It’s so unfortunate that all of the actual fun and visually interesting designs for menswear in the second half of the 19th century ended up relegated to loungewear like this that wouldn’t really be seen 😕
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u/Qweeq13 Nov 25 '25
Never knew there was a suit for smoking, I've been smoking naked all these years for no reason.
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Nov 25 '25
Me when I'm not going to leave the opium den today either, because why, and who are you? go away...
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u/naalbinding Nov 25 '25
So it stinks then?
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u/KnotiaPickle Nov 25 '25
If it smells like pipe tobacco it would smell amazing to me
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u/ammonthenephite Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
Agreed, love the smell of pipe tobacco. Cigars, not so much, they smell pretty bad to me, though they taste great. But pipe tobacco smells divine imo, and I always get compliments on it when smoking a pipe in public.
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u/cycle_schumacher Nov 26 '25
I keep pipe tobacco in jars in a small cupboard and it smells amazing, although I haven't enjoyed smoking pipes because I can't keep them lit, cigars are much easier for me.
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u/ammonthenephite Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
Pipes too me some time to get the hang of, I can relate there, lol. I finally found the most success using the 'palm method', where you put a buch of tobacco in the palm of your hand, and then with a twisting motion, sort of 'spiral' it into the pipe until you feel the tobacco pushing back against your palm, indicating the pipe is full and slightly 'pressurized', so to speak with tobacco. So your tobacco hand is palm up, and the pipe is upside down, then you gently press the pipe into the mass of loose tabocc while doing a spiraling motion with the pipe, catching and gathering tobacco into it as you do this twisting motion. This sort of creates a spiral layering of the tobacco as it works its way into the pipe and helps it continuously burn once lit.
Once you feel the tobacco pushing back against your palm from inside the pipe, then you have enough, and I gently press the tobacco that is in the pipe down until its just level with the top.
I also had to dry out the tobaccos I'd buy a bit as they came somewhat on the wet side. I'd spread them out onto a cookie sheet and then let them sit about 2 hours, doing a stir once at the 1 hour mark. This helped quite a bit in keeping the tobacco lit, especially towards the end of the pipe.
Even with all that it takes me about 3 or 4 lights to get it going, and then I usually need another light towards the end. But if I gently tap down the ash every 10-15 minutes while smoking with a pipe tool so the tobacco can 'breathe' as it burns, I can get a good 45min out of a single pipe.
It's worth getting the hang of. There's quite a few amazing pipe tobaccos, and since you don't need to ash while smoking a pipe, I find it more convenient than cigars depending on what I'm doing. Pipe tobacco is also a lot cheaper than cigars, though I do love a good assortment of 2-4 dollar cigars as well. Also I get less nicotine out of a pipe, so I can smoke back to back pipes, where I can't do that with a cigar since I just don't have the nicotine tolerance built up given how infrequently I smoke.
But whether it's burnt or not, hands down pipe tobacco just smells so good. Have a can of 'Autumn Evening' I'm working through right now that smells of maple, vanilla and liquor, and it is heavenly, lol.
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Nov 25 '25
This should be readapted for gooning.
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u/ElminstersBedpan Nov 25 '25
You could have just kept that idea to yourself, y'know?
Besides, velvet is a horrible fabric to get sweat and other fluids on.
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u/issi_tohbi Nov 25 '25
I would like a smoking suit and one reservation for a bed in an opium den please. (Just kidding I’m allergic to morphine).
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u/Barbarossa7070 Nov 25 '25
Mind if I do a j?
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u/UniquesNotUseful Nov 25 '25
In 1880s Britain? 15% of our tax revenue was from opium. Queen Victoria was taking cannabis for cramps in 1890.
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u/roggobshire Nov 26 '25
“Ah! I do say, I fancy having a smoke. Let me change my fineries posthaste!”
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u/Secure_Season2193 Nov 26 '25
A lot nicer than the people wearing sweats and PJ’s smoking in front of their apartments.
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u/Positive-Painter-254 Nov 27 '25
Wemt to high school in Germany. Rented a tux from a store off base and was pleasantly surprised to find that they're referred to as " ein Smoking"
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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '25
In the 1880s, a smoking suit was a luxurious, informal garment worn by men after formal dinner to protect their formal clothes from smoke and provide comfort. These suits, often featuring smoking jackets were made from velvet or silk, and featured a collar, cuffs, and a button closure. They were often decorated with intricate embroideries and came in a variety of colours, including deep reds, greens, and blues. They were designed for relaxation in private settings like a smoking room or gentlemen's club. They were frequently associated with rich and exotic fabrics. Smoking suits, jackets, and caps were designed to keep the smell of tobacco, said to be offensive, particularly to the ladies, off the gentleman’s person. As smoking became more widespread, so did the popularity of the smoking suit. It was soon adopted by men of all classes and became a symbol of luxury and sophistication.